Your Rich Uncle Pennybags has passed away, and you are poised to
inherit his lucky coin, the secret to his success. However,
Pennybags' will states that this treasure will only go to the relative
who owns the most hotels, and evil nephew Alvin Acquire is off to a
good start with seven.

In order to outdo Alvin, you must sort out your uncle's cryptic
collection of title deeds (helpfully provided by the Law Offices of
Stetson, Mayer, & Co.), get past the red tape of the zoning
commission, and build eight sets of houses and hotels. Only then can
you collect your inheritance, the key to recovering Uncle Pennybags'
lucky coin.

During the first twenty-four hours, we will be releasing puzzles
every three hours, starting at noon. Each of these puzzles has a word
or short phrase as its answer, and each of those answers clues a space
on the Monopoly board. If one of these board puzzles has an answer of
"GREEN LIGHT", then the puzzle's solution would be "GREEN
LIGHT" and its identity would be "Go!".

Once you've solved a puzzle, you can call us up to verify its
answer. Don't be surprised if we ask you how to spell a word, how you
got the answer, or what you thought of the puzzle. Of course, we
might ask you these questions even if we know your answer is
embarrassingly wrong, so don't take them as a hint.

If you've verified a puzzle's answer with us, you can call us up to
also verify its identity. Generally, you'll end up doing this in one
phone call.

Naturally, we have a method of building houses and hotels. If you
believe you have identified a set of properties that forms a Monopoly,
call us up and rattle off the puzzles, their identities, and their
color. (This is the only time we'll let you identify a board puzzle
without having solved it first.) If you're right, you'll receive a
set of four house puzzles and one hotel puzzle.

Like the board puzzles, the house puzzles have a word or short
phrase for an answer, and you can call up to verify the solutions. To
get the hotel answer, you must manipulate the six or seven other
answers associated with the Monopoly. The hotel puzzle itself may
provide a framework for reusing the six or seven answers; it may just
tell you what order to use those answers without telling you what to
do with them; or it may be no help at all.

If you correctly call in to verify a hotel answer, feel free to
celebrate. If you get all eight, you'll be in fantastic shape.

Always call us before coming over. We can't accomodate everyone
at once, and you probably don't want other teams seeing what you've
brought us.

It's okay to make educated guesses, but don't push us if we tell
you to "Stop Guessing." You'll hear the capital letters.

If you're worried that a puzzle is telling you to call up
strangers in the middle of the night, to cause yourself physical or
financial harm, or to do anything else that gives you pause, please
call us up first. However, if the troubling suggestion comes from
your teammates, not from a specific message in the puzzle, then you're
on your own.

If we haven't released a puzzle yet, we won't sign anyone off on
it. Still, if you're really inclined to show off, you can call us
with future answers.

The number one goal of the Mystery Hunt is for all participants to
have fun. Please keep this in mind: respect your teammates and the
other participating teams. You should not do anything that would harm
another team's enjoyment of the hunt. In particular, don't alter
puzzles so they become unsolvable or mislead other teams. Snooping
around in other team members' directories is also bad form.

While there are many ways to approach solving a puzzle, some
methods just aren't kosher. These include but are not limited to:

If you are ever unsure as to the legality of a technique, please
ask us.

Typically, combining teams mid-way through the hunt is not allowed;
however, if you have special circumstances, please give us a call. If
you're going to drop out, please let us know so we can keep track of
who's still in the game (and hopefully persuade you to stick with
it).

For those who aren't used to puzzle competitions like this one, we
have a few more tips:

Remember the difference between a board puzzle's solution and its
identity. Don't jump straight to "Go!" if the puzzle asks "What does
Chlorophane emit when heated?"

Except for the hotel puzzles, which are special, every puzzle can
be solved independently. If you know a puzzle has the answer "GREEN
LIGHT" and you see another puzzle filled with Hal Jordan trivia, don't
assume they're related.

The Hunt wasn't designed for one person to work on during a long
train ride, nor for five people in a van to work out in an afternoon.
Don't be put off if the puzzles look unusually hard. We fully expect
you to use references, call relatives, and make a whole weekend out of
it.

Remember, the most important aspect of the Hunt is to enjoy
yourself. In fact, it's really our job to make sure you (both
individually and as a full team) are having a fantastic time. If
you're completely stumped or not having fun, please call us, and we'll
do what we can to help.